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Monday, February 13, 2012

Everything Is Relative...

Time to look out for our own.

By Tim Enloe; Accessmilton.com

Recently, I had the honor of enjoying another "ride along" with one of Milton's Police Officers. I was assigned to fifteen year veteran officer Lt. John Borsey for a few hours. His shift would run from 5am to 5pm.

As we patrolled the city, discussion would take us to Lt. Borsey's career. He started in Hapeville in 1997. From there, he transferred to Woodstock in '99 and then jumped over to Kennesaw in 2003. He decided to come to Milton in '07. While his knowledge is vast, his main area of expertise is traffic and fatality investigations. For those Milton families who have lost a loved in one of Milton's open road neighborhoods, Lt. Borsey was most likely the lead investigator.

I was also surprised that Milton typically has only four officers on duty for our 35,000 plus population. Earlier this week, our home town suffered a great tragedy when a father gunned down his teenage step son. According to authorities, all four officers on duty rushed to the scene. Those scheduled for the following shift had to be called in early for coverage purposes. However, during that brief moment of exchange, our citizens were left in great jeopardy as the rest of the city was unprotected. Before the end of 2012, our elected officials must guarantee six or more officers per shift. This would insure one officer in each of our three zones remain when emergencies take place.

Our officers typically work over forty hours a week. When an emergency takes place, the last thing I want are first responders who are exhausted. When seconds equal years, these men and women need to be as well rested as possible so that they can perform their important tasks clearly with extreme focus. Again, more officers are needed.

With citizens having the honor to employ such a credentialed hero, I had to ask myself what can we do to keep Lt. Borsey, Sgt. Kiel, Officer Hayes and others like them here? Much like thousands of industries throughout the US, all are looking for the better deal to provide the best life for loved ones and themselves-including police officers.

There is quite a bit of overlapping from city to city in North Fulton. Johns Creek residents go to Alpharetta for various things, Milton residents go to Roswell for the same and vice versa. Our communities are interlinked via many routes.

One such commonality is the pursuit of good professional officers with offerings of competitive pay and benefits. So how does Milton's offering stack up against it's neighbors? Some elected officials past and present have claimed that our officers were either on par with "similar municipalities" or above. As stated earlier, North Fulton is a community within itself, but I digress...

It is time to expose the truth of the matter.Ranks included here are Officer, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain.

For starters, let's take a look at the typical patrol officer. Milton's yearly average is $35,956.23, while Alpharetta sits at $51,450.00, Roswell at $44,289.00, and Johns Creek at $47,788.80.

In regards to the rank of Sergeant, Milton is the only municipality amongst these cities to carry this level. The average here is $49,223.87.

Next we have the rank of Lieutenant-Milton; $51,936.29 , Alpharetta; $66,150.00 , Roswell; $65,435.00, and Johns Creek at $67,433.60.

Our compensation is dead last across the board. In a city where local leaders past and present have boasted that Milton "is the second wealthiest city in Georgia", shouldn't our officers be some of the better paid amongst the state? After all, everything is relative. Our tax monies should be spent in a priority fashion. On the top of that list should be the protection of family, friends, and property and so on. Rest assured, an old house on a hill isn't going to come to your aid in time of great perile.

Not only does adequate policing by experienced officers keep our loved ones safer, it also has a positive impact on property values. There is a reason why we are told to stay out of a "bad area"; the primary reason being not enough officers on hand to insure a safe community.

In conclusion, it is time to look out for our own. Milton's officers are willing to lay down their lives for us. The least we can do is contact council and demand that our officers are paid aggressively. Tell them that more officers of the highest caliber and experience are needed to properly protect our Milton and tell them the time to act is now. Otherwise, we run a higher risk of danger and the reputation as the last place any good public servant would want to serve.

If you would like to contact the mayor, please click here and the council can be reached here.

well people you have answered your own question. Bloom and those who run the city and Dept.(Chief and Capt's ) don't care about the officers, they only care for themselves. In fact they would much rather have 1 or 2 fulton county officers up there instead of a city police. Less officers mean less issues and people to suck up to. MILTON GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CARE OR WANT A POLICE DEPT. Neither does most of the residence.

Once again, Mr. Enloe lights a match, throws it on a brush pile, then sits back and watch his followers dance around it.

If the current pay structure is so bad, why are all the positions filled? If the City of Milton couldn't get any qualified applicants, they would surely have to up the salary. It's pure and simple supply and demand.

If you want more officers and higher pay, vote for increasing your property taxes. Let's see who comes out of the woodwork on that topic.

tim apparently cant remeber his own thoughts anymore "I was also surprised that Milton typically has only four officers on duty for our 35,000 plus population." how could that be given all your rants and raves regarding milton not having enough police